Howard Beach is a neighborhood in the southwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. Bordered in the north by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue, the south by Jamaica Bay, the east by 102nd-104th Streets and the west by 78th Street. Howard Beach borders the neighborhoods of Ozone Park to the north and Broad Channel to the south.

GeographyLike most Queens neighborhoods, Howard Beach is composed of several smaller neighborhoods — Howard Beach, Hamilton Beach, Ramblersville, Rockwood Park, Lindenwood, Old Howard Beach, and Howard Park. Howard Beach proper is a small peninsula bordered by the Belt Parkway and Conduit Avenue on the north, Jamaica Bay on the south, Hawtree Creek on the east separating it from Hamilton Beach and Shellbank Basin on the west that separates it from Cross Bay Boulevard.

Cross Bay Boulevard is the main commercial strip of Howard Beach and going northward it eventually turns into Woodhaven Boulevard after Ozone Park. Throughout the 1970s and 80s, the Boulevard was made up almost exclusively of locally-owned shops and restaurants. However starting in the 1990s, chain stores and restaurants began moving in and now most of the well-known franchises are on the Boulevard. Entertainment venues on Cross Bay Boulevard such as the Kiddie-Park and Cross-Bay Lanes were popular until their demise in the 1970s and 1980s.

In the mid 1950s, the northernmost section of Howard Beach was comprised of a small wooded area (Cherry Forest) and a dairy farm (Mary's Farm), approximately 25% of the remaining area has houses on it.
The Joseph P. Addabbo Memorial Bridge connects mainland Queens to Broad Channel.

GovernmentJoseph Addabbo, Jr., the son of former Congressman Joseph P. Addabbo, represents the area as its New York City Councilman. Congressman Gregory W. Meeks (D-NY) represents that part of Howard Beach East of Cross Bay Boulevard, while Congressman Anthony D. Weiner (D-NY) represents the part west of Cross Bay Boulevard.

Transportation
The A Train Subway stop in Howard Beach was once a Long Island Rail Road station on the Long Island Rail Road's Rockaway Beach Branch. Frequent fires on the trestle to Broad Channel helped to force the LIRR to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the 1950s which allowed the city to purchase the line from the LIRR in 1956[1].

The Howard Beach-JFK subway station located at Coleman Square provides a connection to both the A train and AirTrain JFK (and was the terminus of the former JFK Express, known colloquially as the "Train To The Plane," in the late 1970s into the early 1990s). Prior to the AirTrain JFK, the Port Authority provided a free shuttle bus to the terminals at JFK Airport. The Airtrain, provides a quicker and more convenient connection at the price of $5.00 for each entry or exit at Howard Beach or Jamaica, an unlimited monthly pass is available for $40.00. Visitors on extended delays or layovers at JFK Airport have lately been paying the $10.00 fee ($5.00 each way) to visit the small shops and pub at Coleman Square.

SchoolsPS 146 The Howard Beach School K-6
PS 207 K-8
PS 232 The Walter Ward School K-6
Our Lady of Grace School K-8
Saint Helen School K-8
For grades 9-12, most residents attend John Adams High School in nearby Ozone Park, Specialty High Schools, such as Beach Channel High School in Rockaway Park or Catholic High Schools.

Demographics
Howard Beach is home to a large Italian American population, as well as smaller Jewish, Irish, African American, and Polish communities.28,098 respondents in the 11414 ZCTA provided ancestry information broken down as follows: